Do you believe?
That is, do you believe in what you’re selling?
Are you convinced, truly convinced, it can help people achieve a goal, solve a problem, and satisfy a need?
If you did an honest assessment, when you’re on the phone or in-person with a buyer, do they believe that you believe?
If not, I CAN GUARANTEE you are losing sales.
Why?
Because your conviction about what you’re offering is directly connected to the credibility you communicate to the buyer. After all, credibility is a key component to your prospects' and your clients' perceptions of your trustworthiness (see Andrea Howe’s blog on trustworthiness).
So how can you show more conviction?
Assign yourself some homework to answer these questions on them:
- Do you fully understand the value your offering brings to your clients (not how it works, not what it does, but the what’s in it for them - "WIIFT" - factor)?
- Have you put yourself in THAT buyer’s shoes? What are the risks in regards to making a decision to buy from you? What obstacles might they face?
- Have you crystallized the value for them? What’s the ROI – return on investment – and what are the actual and perceived costs of making the purchase?
- How does your offering differ from other options they have? Not just the competition but all the other options as well.
Then assign yourself some more homework to answer these questions on you:
- What’s your energy level? Are you monotone, scripted, or merely going through the motions?
- What does your body language say? Even if you’re on the phone, you should take a posture that conveys you believe. Try standing up or walking around.
- If you’re in-person, are you making direct eye contact when conveying a critical point?
- If on the phone (you have to work harder because they can’t see your non-verbal communication), are you using vocal variety? Are you increasing/ decreasing your volume? Using voice inflection? Pausing before key points? Changing speed?
- Imagine you had a remedy that could cure cancer. Imagine you got two tickets to go to the Super Bowl, a great concert, or free trip. Are you that convicted? SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
These homework assignments provide some pragmatic steps that you can use to think about how to dial up your conviction and how others perceive you. Remember that this process of showing conviction all becomes a lot easier and more genuine sounding if it comes from within you. As one age-old, widely cited reference - the Bible - says: "…from an overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
If you’re not convicted in your heart, get there.
Do you believe?
Mark Slatin is a VP of Sales at entreQuest who is outsourced to a wide variety of companies to coach their teams, improve their client experiences, and raise their revenues.
