7 Ways to Show Confidence In Sales & Be That Captivating Sales Pro!

How many times has a salesperson walked into a meeting room and completely won you over before they even started talking?

They didn't even need to say anything because their presence alone was enough to tell you that they believed they were going to walk out victorious.

As a result, you knew within the first minute of the conversation that it would be impossible to say "no" to them.

What is it about those kinds of salespeople that makes them so captivating?

Straight-up: Confidence. 

Confident salespeople are successful salespeople.  If you want to join the leagues of the top sales professionals, having and showing confidence in sales is an absolute must.

The best part is, building up and showing off self-confidence is actually quite simple, contrary to what some people might tell you!

To help you become an undeniable top-performer, we're sharing everything you need to know about confidence in sales, including:

• The importance of confidence in sales
• How to become more confident in sales
• How to show prospects you are confident

Follow this guide, and you will inevitably see an increase in your sales success.

Soon enough, you will become that captivating salesperson that prospects cannot deny!

Why is Confidence Important In Sales?

It has been said that most deals are made within the first 30 seconds of the sales presentation starting.

While that might seem ludicrous, it's actually true!

You can have a 30 minute presentation, but the first 30 seconds alone are often enough to seal the deal.  More than that, the first 30 seconds are a make or break moment! 

How can that be possible?

Like we mentioned above, people with real confidence are extremely captivating!  Without even saying anything, they have an ability to warp your mind and make it impossible for you to say "no" to them!  To prospects, it's like unexplainable magic.

With that said, confidence = power.

Confidence is the highest form of positive energy.  When you have it, you have the power to infect prospects with the same positive energy, which makes them feel amazing.

There’s a reason people use the word infections when it comes to confidence: When a salesperson is confident, it's like a virus that spreads through the air and eventually infects the prospects.  Within no time, the prospect is feeling the same energy as the sales rep, and they don’t want to let it go.  

But, still... How can confidence seal a deal within the first 30 seconds of the sales presentation? 

We've said it many times before here on the Business Growth Insider and we will say it many times again: Sales prospects remember not what you say, but how you make them feel.

If you can make them feel a rush of positive energy right off the bat, it will be virtually impossible for them to deny you.

Without you even trying, the energy from your confidence will infect the prospects with more positive energy than they’ve ever felt before!

If you can emulate confidence from the moment you walk into the sales pitch, consider the deal already done.

A Real-Life Example of the Importance of Confidence In Sales

We've all been in this situation before: You walk into a clothing store, unsure of whether or not you even want to buy anything.

A salesperson approaches you, and you immediately get a sense that there is something captivating about them.

Within no time, they've got you in the dressing room trying on multiple items of clothing that you didn't even know you wanted when you first walked in.  But now, you realize you need them!

Before you know it, you're walking out with a new outfit AND a new level of confidence.

How could it be that you walked in feeling neutral and unaware of what you wanted, to walking out feeling amazing and with a product that makes you feel great about yourself?

It all comes down to the sales rep, who’s aura was pure confidence.  Like magic, that confidence infected you with the same level of confidence in yourself!  You couldn’t help but feel amazing.

This is a prime example of how confidence is powerful.  If you have it, you can use it to influence someone into making a purchasing decision by making them feel good.

Had the sales rep not been confident, you probably would have walked out of the store empty handed.

The next time you go into a clothing store, observe how the sales reps are able to exert their confidence power over you from the moment you walk in the door!

How Can a Person be Confident In Sales?

To say that you just need to be confident in sales is extremely vague.  Who or what exactly are you supposed to be confident in?

To clarify, if you want to be confident in sales, you need to be confident in these three key areas:

1. The value of your product or service
2. The strength of your sales process
3. Yourself 

Also very importantly, confidence is more like a skill than a personality trait.  And like any other skill, it takes practice to develop.

It isn't unusual for people to tell you that you need confidence to be successful, but what is unusual is to get advice on exactly how to develop it.  

In fact, the idea that confidence is essential for life is often planted inside of us from a young age.  While adults tell us we need to be confident, they often aren't even confident themselves, nor do they tell us how to do it.

With that said, what is the trick for building sales confidence?

The are two key tricks to being confident in sales, including:

1. Having a true belief that your product or service is the best
2. Acting as if you are already confident

First off, you can't be confident in something that is unworthy of your confidence.  Not only would it be extremely difficult to be confident in something that doesn't have the value it claims to have, but it would also be immoral.

Therefore, before a salesperson focuses on building any level of sales confidence, they need to have a killer product or service to be confident in.

Second and most importantly, if you want to be confident in sales, you just have to act as if you already are!  There is no other way to start becoming confident other than by doing things that an already confident person would do.

With that said, being confident is a matter of faking it until you make it.  Or better yet, about practicing until it becomes reality.

Want to be confident?  Just start acting like it!

How Can a Salesperson Show Prospects That They're Confident?

The great thing about confidence is that if you have it, you don't need to tell people you do.

In fact, telling someone you are confident in yourself could be taken as a sign that you actually aren't confident!

Moreover, confidence speaks for itself!

Therefore, to show prospects you are confident, all you need to do is be it!  There is no other way to do it, and it will be very challenging to try and close a sale without it.

7 Ways to Show Confidence In Sales & Captivate Prospects!

As we mentioned above, the only way to build confidence is to do things that an already confident person would do! 

And, you don't need to put in any extra effort into showing prospects you are confident, because your confident energy will speak for itself!

With that said, here are 7 ways you can show off your confidence in sales by infecting prospects with positive energy.  Even if you don't feel confident at the moment, incorporate these tactics in your sales strategy to start building sales confidence now!

1. Do Your Homework

Before you start showing off your confidence, you need a foundation.  In sales, that foundation is knowledge and belief in your company's product or service.

If you really don't know what you're talking about when it comes to your product or service, it's impossible to walk into the sales meeting and be truly confident.

Would you walk into a test feeling confident knowing fully well that you didn't spend a minute studying for it?  If so, that sounds more like cockiness than it does confidence.

With that said, before you walk into a sales meeting, you and your sales team should study the in’s and out’s of your company’s solution.

Preparation lays the foundation for confidence!  If you don't prepare yet are repeating to yourself internally that you are confident, then you are just fooling yourself.

Also before going into the meeting, practice your pitches with a sales manager.  Let the manager play the role of the prospect by asking you challenging questions.

As a result, not only will you exude more confidence in the sales meetings, but you'll also pick up some extra selling skills!  

If you want to be confident and show others you are, then start by doing your homework!  You wouldn’t walk into a test and be confident about it without having studied… would you?  

Similarly, you wouldn’t walk into a sales pitch confidently without having properly prepared yourself!

2. Allow Prospects to Ask Endless Questions

There is a common misconception that confident people are dominant people.  But, that's not necessarily true!

In fact, dominating a conversation not only makes you look less confident, but ruins your overall sales performance.

If you want to show prospects you are confident, let them have the floor!  Whatever questions they want to ask... let them ask!

Confident people aren't afraid to be put in the hot seat.  They're ready to be put on blast by prospects because they know what they're doing AND know that it is an opportunity to show off their confidence.  

Even if they don't have 100% of the answers, top salespeople know that it’s better to at least try and answer than it is to run away from the situation. 

Imagine if you were a prospect and your sales rep was clearly trying to avoid letting you ask questions.  Wouldn't you not only be suspicious about their knowledge, but also think that they're afraid?  Probably!

Therefore, show off your confidence by letting your prospects have the floor!  By doing so, you will come across as a highly confident individual.

Side note: While you should let prospects have the floor, make sure you don't let them take over the situation!  Always exercise control over the conversation if you want to guarantee a closed deal!

3. Speak Highly of Prospects

People who are confident in themselves think highly of themselves.

By thinking highly of themselves, we mean that they don't look at themselves in the mirror and say things like, "I'm a failure" or "I'm not good at anything".  

While they don't think they're perfect, confident people believe that they are great at what they do!

When someone thinks highly of themself, they naturally think highly of others.  Because, when someone is confident, they don't need to bring others down to make themselves feel better.  Instead, they look at the highlights of the people around them.

This is a fact we've all known since we were young, and it's still relevant in B2B sales!

Therefore, show prospects that you are confident in yourself by speaking highly of them.  During your sales conversations, point out all of the great things about their company and what they are trying to do.

One of the most effective ways to talk highly of the prospect is to bring up the importance of their company's vision.  

Because the vision is central to what they do and a highly emotional topic, talking highly of it will naturally make them feel great!

You don't need to go overboard by spewing out random compliments to make them like you!  Instead, a couple of subtle nods here and there to their greatness works just fine.

Remember, if you're feeling confident in yourself, you will naturally hype others up!

4. Going Slightly Off Course

How many times have you sat down for a sales presentation and the sales rep read directly off of the slides?  Word for word, nothing that came out of their mouth wasn't thought of ahead of time.

When you are giving a presentation and clearly sticking 100% to the script, it's a sign of lack of confidence.  Not only that, but it can make it look as if you don't really know your stuff as deeply as you should!

Confident and effective sales people aren't afraid to go slightly off script.  When they do go off script, their sales pitches feel more natural, which makes them come across as more confident.  

Additionally, going slightly off course gives salespeople an opportunity to show a more genuine side of themselves.  More specifically, it opens the door for them to show off their true personality.

Believe it or not, prospects don't want to work with a robot!  Instead, they want to work with real, genuine people like themselves.

If you can show them that you are genuine, then they'll be even more inclined to choose you for their solution.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Say “I Don’t Know”

While we did make a point above that you should try and study everything there is to know about your company's product or service, acting like you know it all will actually make you look like the opposite of confident!

Knowledge about your solution is the foundation of confidence, but you shouldn't use it in a way to make yourself look like you know everything.

Because, confident people are very aware that they don't know everything!  And, they are in no way trying to make it seem like they do.

Sometimes, true confidence is a matter of being vulnerable enough to say that you don’t have all the answers. 

With that said, everyone knows that a know-it-all is just acting like they know-it-all to not expose their lack of knowledge.  Therefore, when a prospect asks a question that you don’t have the answer to, don’t be afraid to say that you don’t have an answer then and there.

When you don’t know how to answer a question, one of the best things to do is call in reinforcement from your sales team.  While you might not know how to respond, maybe somebody else will!

You might be thinking that it's exposing your lack of knowledge, but what it's actually doing is showing that you're confident enough to ask for help.

Never fear not having all of the answers that a prospect is looking for.  If you don’t know what to say, don’t pretend like you do and then call in reinforcement from your team!

6. Stand Firm In Your Value

Imagine that you are being seated at a restaurant.  And, not just any restaurant, but a Michelin star restaurant.

You take your seat, open up the menu, and then your eyes pop slightly out of your head when you see the price tag on the appetizers.  You knew it was going to be expensive, but not this much!

How could a restaurant possibly get away with charging so much?

Here's the thing: The Michelin Star restaurant charges what they do because they believe in the value of what they have to offer!  They're not charging you for a sandwich you can get at any old diner, they're charging you for the million dollar experience you'll have eating at their restaurant!  They know that you will walk out of there feeling like a million bucks, something that you can’t get anywhere else. 

In a similar way, you need to be confident in the value of your product or service. 

When it comes time to close the deal with your prospects, stand firm in that price tag because you believe in the value of it.  Not only should you stand firm in it, you should not openly negotiate it!

As long as the value of your product or service is equal to that of your price tag, then you don't need to worry about overcharging. 

If you don't charge what you know your solution is worth, you will appear unconfident in the value of it.  And that might just be enough to scare the prospects away!

7. Slim Down Your Offerings

Today is the day you've been waiting for: The day that you finally go and buy yourself that expensive suit you've had your eye on for months now.

You've been waiting to pull the plug on investing, but now you're finally ready!

When you get to the store, you're taken back for a minute by the slim selection of suits.  You think back to the department store that you usually go to for work clothes and the dozens of options they have.  Why would this store only have a few options while the typical department store has dozens?

After trying them on, you realize why this store only has a slim selection of suits available: Because they are the highest quality suits out there, and the retailer knows it. 

The retailer isn't trying to woo you with options because they're confident that the small selection that they have is the very best!

On the other hand, the typical department store knows that there are better options out there, so they try to win you over with options.

Just like the suit retailer, you also should slim down your offerings to appear more confident.

When it comes time to lay your deal down on the table, give your prospect a maximum of three solid offerings for your solution and no more!  Better yet, just give them one to show that you are fully confident in that one solution.

If you start throwing out several different prices and ways to deliver your product or service, you'll immediately cheapen yourself.

To appear the most confident, cut down your offerings to as few as possible.  The fewer you have, the more confident you appear!

Final Thoughts on Confidence In Sales & How it Makes You Unstoppable

They say that confidence is infectious for a reason!  The more of it you have, the more positive energy you infect your prospects with.

And, the more positive they feel, the more likely you are to win them over within seconds of walking in the door!

The best news is that, to infect prospects with your energy, all you need to do is truly be confident - little else is required.

Showing killer confidence is perhaps the only way you can seal the deal within 30 seconds of the sales pitch starting.  Will you be the sales person whose confidence does the work for them?