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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Serie: Jeb Blount
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
There are few one-size-fits-all solutions in sales. Context matters. Complex sales are different from one-call closes. B2B is different than B2C. Prospects, territories, products, industries, companies, and sales processes are all different. There is little black and white in the sales profession. Except for Objections. There is democracy in Objections. Every salesperson must endure many NOs in order to get to YES. Objections don't care or consider: * Who you are * What you sell * How you sell * If you are new to sales or a veteran * If your sales cycle is long or short - complex or transactional For as long as salespeople have been asking buyers to make commitments, buyers have been throwing out Objections. And, for as long as buyers have been saying no, salespeople have yearned for the secrets to getting past those NOs. Following in the footsteps of his blockbuster bestsellers Fanatical Prospecting and Sales EQ, Jeb Blount's Objections is a comprehensive and contemporary guide that engages your heart and mind. In his signature right-to-the-point style, Jeb pulls no punches and slaps you in the face with the cold, hard truth about what's really holding you back from closing sales and reaching your income goals. Then he pulls you in with examples, stories, and lessons that teach powerful human-influence frameworks for getting past NO - even with the most challenging Objections. What you won't find, though, is old school techniques straight out of the last century. No bait and switch schemes, no sycophantic tie-downs, no cheesy scripts, and none of the contrived closing techniques that leave you feeling like a phony, destroy relationships, and only serve to increase your buyers' resistance. Instead, you'll learn a new psychology for turning-around Objections and proven techniques that work with today's more informed, in control, and skeptical buyers. Inside the pages of Objections, you'll gain deep insight into: * How to get past the natural human fear of NO and become rejection proof * The science of resistance and why buyers throw out Objections * Human influence frameworks that turn you into a master persuader * The key to avoiding embarrassing red herrings that derail sales calls * How to leverage the "Magical Quarter of a Second" to instantly gain control of your emotions when you get hit with difficult Objections * Proven objection turn-around frameworks that give you confidence and control in virtually every sales situation * How to easily skip past reflex responses on cold calls and when prospecting * How to move past brush-offs to get to the next step, increase pipeline velocity, and shorten the sales cycle * The 5 Step Process for Turning Around Buying Commitment Objections and closing the sale * Rapid Negotiation techniques that deliver better terms and higher prices As you dive into these powerful insights, and with each new chapter, you'll gain greater and greater confidence in your ability to face and effectively handle Objections in any selling situation. And, with this new-found confidence, your success and income will soar.
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CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword: The Democracy of Objections
Introduction: It Wasn't Supposed To Be This Book
Chapter 1: Asking—The Most Important Discipline in Sales
The Discipline to Ask
You Are Not Getting What You Want Because You Are Not Asking for What You Want
Conjuring the Deepest, Darkest Human Fear
There Is No Silver-Bullet Objection Slayer
Chapter 2: How to Ask
Emotional Contagion: People Respond in Kind
The Assumptive Ask
Shut Up
Be Prepared for Objections
Chapter 3: The Four Objections You Meet in a Deal
Types of Objections
Objection Turnaround Frameworks
Chapter 4: The Science of Resistance
Buyers Don't Go to Objection School
You Cannot Argue People into Believing They Are Wrong
Objections Originate at the Emotional Level
Cognitive Biases and Heuristics
People Ignore Patterns
Status Quo and Safety Biases
Triggering the Negativity Bias
Sunk-Cost Fallacy
Ambiguity Bias and the Less-Is-Better Effect
Cognitive Dissonance
Pulling It All Together
Chapter 5: Objections Are Not Rejection, But They Feel That Way
Not the Same
But It Feels the Same
Chapter 6: The Science Behind the Hurt
A Biological Response
The Most Insatiable Human Need
Chapter 7: The Curse of Rejection
Sales Is an Unnatural Profession
Fight or Flight—The Genesis of Disruptive Emotions
Chapter 8: Rejection Proof
The Seven Disruptive Emotions
Develop Self-Awareness
Positive Visualization
Manage Self-Talk
Change Your Physiology
Stay Fit
Push Pause with a Ledge
The This-or-That Technique
Obstacle Immunity
Adversity Is Your Most Powerful Teacher
Chapter 9: Avoiding Objections Is Stupid
Get the Truth on the Table—Early and Often
Are You the Decision Maker?
Mapping Stakeholders
BASIC™
Bringing Objections to the Surface
Activating the Self-Disclosure Loop
Deep Listening
Chapter 10: Prospecting Objections
When You Fail to Interrupt, You Fail
The Rule of Thirds
RBOs
Prospecting RBOs Can Be Anticipated in Advance
Planning for Prospecting RBOs
The Three-Step Prospecting Objection Turnaround Framework
Putting It All Together
Bitch Just Hung Up in My Face
Chapter 11: Yes Has a Number
Sales Is Governed by Numbers
Money Ball: It's All About the Ratios
Changing Your Yes Number
Chapter 12: Red Herrings
Avoid Red Herring Objections
PAIS
Leveraging the Call Agenda Framework to Gain Control and Avoid Red Herrings
Chapter 13: Micro-Commitment Objections
The Bane of Sales Organizations
The Power of Micro-Commitments
The Cardinal Rule of Sales Conversations
The Origin of Micro-Commitment Objections
The Three-Step Micro-Commitment Objection Turnaround Framework
Chapter 14: Buying Commitment Objections
It's the Sales Process, Stupid: The Truth About Impossible Objections
The Five-Step Objection Turnaround Framework
Putting It All Together
Chapter 15: Bending Win Probability in Your Favor
Fanatical Prospecting
Qualify, Qualify, Qualify
Map the Account Stakeholders
Leverage Precall Planning
The Confirmation Step
Murder Boarding
Practice and Run Through Scenarios
Chapter 16: The Relentless Pursuit of Yes
Success Is Paid for in Advance
Never Let Anyone Tell You What You Can't Do
Shaquem Can't Compete
Stop Making Excuses for Why You Can't
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Training, Workshops, and Speaking
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Table 2.1
Table 2.2
Table 10.1
Table 10.2
Table 10.3
Table 13.1
List of Illustrations
Figure 2.1
Figure 3.1
Figure 10.1
Figure 10.2
Figure 11.1
Figure 11.2
Figure 12.1
Figure 12.2
Figure 13.1
Figure 14.1
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Beging Reading
Chapter 1
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Objections
The Ultimate Guide for Mastering The Art and Science of Getting Past No
Jeb Blount
Cover image: © EHStock/Getty Images
Cover design: Wiley
Copyright © 2018 by Jeb Blount. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750–8400, fax (978) 646–8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748–6011, fax (201) 748–6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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ISBN 9781119477389 (Hardcover)
ISBN 9781119477365 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119477372 (ePub)
For the Titans:
Mark Hunter, Anthony Iannarino, and Mike Weinberg
Foreword: The Democracy of Objections
There are few one-size-fits-all solutions in sales. Complex sales are different from one-call closes. Calling on a business is different from selling directly to individual consumers. Selling software requires a different skill set than selling office automation equipment. Real estate sales has a different sales process than insurance or financial services.
In sales, context matters. There is little black and white. Every prospect, sales conversation, territory, company, and product are different. There is one exception, though—objections. As a sales professional, you face objections and the potential for objections, no matter your unique situation.
Objections don't care about or consider:
who you are
what you sell
where you work
where you live
if your sales cycle is long or short, complex or transactional
how your day is going
if you are new to sales or a veteran
There is democracy in objections—a shared reality for all salespeople. You are going to get objections, and you need to learn how to get past them. This is why Jeb Blount's Objections is one of the most important books to hit the sales profession in a generation. In this book, Jeb takes on both the art and science of getting past no.
It's his focus on the science of no that makes this the most powerful book ever penned on sales objections. When you leverage Jeb's frameworks for getting past no, you'll find yourself shortening the sales cycle, closing more deals, and getting higher prices.
Following in the footsteps of his blockbuster bestsellers Fanatical Prospecting and Sales EQ, this book will change the way you view sales objections forever. Objections is a comprehensive and contemporary guide that engages your mind and your heart. Jeb draws you in with examples and stories, all while teaching specific human-influence frameworks for turning around the four types of objections you face in the sales process.
At the same time, he pulls no punches, and in his signature right-to-the-point style, he slaps you in the face with the cold hard truth about what's really holding you back from the success and income you deserve.
Sales has changed so much over the past 20 years, yet sales trainers and experts continue to teach strategies that fall flat with modern buyers who are smart enough to know they are being manipulated. I've watched hundreds of salespeople crash and burn using these sleazy tactics as they attempt to bully and trick buyers rather than address their concerns.
Today's buyer is more sophisticated and informed. In Objections you'll learn a new psychology for getting past no. Rather than the same tired, cheesy, old-school scripts, you'll learn contextual frameworks and strategies for responding to objections in the real world.
From the first chapter all the way to the last chapter, you'll gain new insights that will help you get past objections. You'll find that you can easily relate to what Jeb has written. At times you will feel he's writing about you!
That's the power of Jeb's books. He is a sales expert who lives in the real world. A practitioner who gets up every day and sells just like you. When he's not training, you'll find him at his company Sales Gravy, in the trenches with his sales team prospecting, on sales calls, and like you, facing and getting past objections.
—Mark Hunter, author of High-Profit Prospecting
Introduction: It Wasn't Supposed To Be This Book
Writing books is the closest men ever come to childbearing.
—Norman Mailer
I wasn't planning on writing this book. It wasn't on my radar. Frankly, I never even considered writing a book on objections because it seemed like such limited subject matter.
The objection is most often a bit player; never the star of the show. There's usually a chapter on objections tucked away in the back of most sales books. And, sales training programs offer up a module or two on objections almost as an afterthought.
I was in the middle of writing a book on a much more important subject—sales-specific negotiation tactics. That was until I met Adam Vogel, the director of inside sales for the New York Mets. Adam and the Mets sales organization had fallen in love with my book Fanatical Prospecting and invited me to New York to inspire their stable of young sales guns to make one more call.
Bright, young, well-dressed sales professionals gathered in the auditorium at Citi Field for what my Sales Gravy team calls “Jeb Un-Plugged.” It's a session in which sales professionals and sales leaders hurl questions and challenges at me and I answer whatever comes my way. No script, no slides, and no preparation.
I enjoy unplugged sessions. It's my favorite way to teach. For three hours, they hit me with hard questions. When it was all over, they let me go to a game (I'm an unapologetic fan of baseball).
During the game, something kept tugging at me about the questions they'd asked. There was a pattern there that I just couldn't put my finger on. But, as I was walking out of the stadium that evening, it hit me. Almost all the questions thrown at me that afternoon were about how to deal with objections—what to say, what to do, and how to respond. When I thought about it, most of the questions brought to me by salespeople, from all walks of life, were in one form or another about objections. I just hadn't been paying attention.
The sudden revelation struck me like a lightning bolt—one of those aha! moments that sets you on fire. The next morning, I was up at five, staring at the clock and waiting for eight so I could call Shannon Vargo at my publisher, John Wiley and Sons. I was so fired up for this book that I hadn't slept all night.
It occurs to me as I write this, that I don't actually know Shannon's job title; suffice to say that she's a big cheese at Wiley who makes decisions about what gets published and what does not. And she's cool because she takes my calls.
When Shannon answered the phone, I breathlessly pitched my idea for this book and why we should push the other book back, even though it was already on the publishing schedule. I was talking so fast, I'm sure I sounded like a squirrel on meth.
When I finished, there was silence on the other end of the line. I braced for the objection. Then she said yes. She loved the idea!
After a brief second of elation and a fist pump, I panicked. I've got impulse-control issues. In my exuberance for the idea, I hadn't considered that to replace the book I was already working on, I'd have only four months to write Objections.
The pain was worth it. My exuberance for Objections did not and has not waned. I fell in love with this book because it finally tells the real truth about objections, where objections come from, and about how and why you respond to objections the way you do.
This is the most comprehensive look at sales objections ever written. It's different from every book that has ever been published on sales objections. Rather than treating objections like a small piece of a much greater puzzle, the objection is finally the star of the show. I hope that you'll love this book as much as I do.
1Asking—The Most Important Discipline in Sales
Go for no.
—Andrea Waltz
Richard left 71 voice mail messages asking for an appointment. He sent 18 emails. He stalked me on LinkedIn.
He managed to get me to answer the phone on at least three occasions, but I brushed him off each time. He also called, and wrote, and connected on social media with each of the key stakeholders in my organization.
For five months Richard asked and asked and asked for an opportunity to demonstrate his software solution. And for five months, he got nowhere—until he finally caught me at the right time. It was in May, five months after his first attempt to set an appointment.
When I answered the phone, I recognized his voice. I almost brushed him off again, but since I didn't have anything else scheduled and he'd been so persistent, I felt a subconscious obligation to give him a chance.
Richard wasted no time getting me to agree to a demo. His software as a service (SaaS) solution was impressive, and it did solve one of our training delivery problems. I was transparent about how much I liked what he'd shown me. Less than an hour later, he asked for my commitment to buy.
Without thinking, I threw out an objection:
“Richard, it looks like a great program and I like it. But I'm going to need to discuss it with my team before we commit to anything. I know some of them have advocated for your platform, but my schedule is packed, and getting everyone up to speed and using it is going to be a distraction in the short term. I want to be sure we are all aligned before making this investment, because I don't want to buy yet another software program that everyone is excited about but never uses.”
Richard responded by relating to my situation and clarifying my concern:
“Jeb, it sounds like you've been burned in the past with SaaS subscriptions that go unused. I get it! It feels like you're just pouring money down the drain.
“If I understand you correctly, it seems like your top concerns are: a) it's going to be a distraction training everyone, and b) if we don't get your team up to speed fast, they won't use it and it will be a wasted investment.
“Did I get that right?”
I agreed that those were my biggest concerns. It felt good that he really seemed to understand where I was coming from.
“Other than these two concerns, what else do we need to address?”
I responded that there was nothing else holding me back. Then he minimized my concern:
“The best way for your team to experience the power of our platform is to get their hands on it. What if I take the burden off you and take full responsibility for getting your team trained and making sure they are using it?
“With your blessing, I'll schedule a training call with your trainers and coaches to show them how to use the platform. I'll then monitor their usage and report back to you each week until we've integrated usage into their daily routine. That way it doesn't take any time out of your busy schedule, and you have the peace of mind that your money is well spent.
“Since this isn't a long-term commitment and you can quit anytime, if your team doesn't use the program we can shake hands and part ways. There isn't much to lose here and there's a lot to gain, so why don't we get your account set up, and let me make this easy for you?”
Before I knew it, he had my corporate AMEX card number and Sales Gravy was his newest customer.
The Discipline to Ask
Asking is the most important discipline in sales. You must ask for what you want, directly, assumptively, assertively, and repeatedly. Asking is the key that unlocks:
Qualifying information
Appointments
Demos
Leveling up to decision makers or down to influencers
Information and data for building your business case
Next steps
Micro-commitments
Buying commitments
In sales, asking is everything. If you fail to ask, you'll end up carrying a box full of the stuff from your desk to your car on the way to the unemployment line. Your income will suffer. Your career will suffer. Your family will suffer. You will suffer.
When you fail to ask, you fail.
It's the truth and this truth will not change. But as my favorite line from the movie The Big Short goes, “The truth is like poetry. And most people fucking hate poetry.”
You Are Not Getting What You Want Because You Are Not Asking for What You Want
If you are having a hard time getting the next appointment, getting to decision makers, getting information from stakeholders, leveling up higher in the organization, or closing the deal, it's not because you lack prospecting skills, closing skills, the right words to say, or tactics for getting past the inevitable objections.
Nope, you are not getting what you want because you are not asking for what you want. Why? Nine times out of ten you are insecurely and passively beating around the bush because you are afraid to hear the word no.
In this state, confident and assumptive asking gets replaced with wishing, hoping, and wanting. You hesitate and use weak, passive words. Your tone of voice and body language exude insecurity and desperation. You wait for your prospect to do your job for you and set the appointment, set the next step, or close the deal themselves.
But they don't.
Instead, they resist and push back with objections. They put you off, brush you off, turn you off, and sometimes steamroll right over you. Your passive, insecure, fearful behavior only serves to encourage more resistance and rejection.
In sales, passive doesn't work. Insecurity won't play. Wishing and hoping is not a viable strategy.
Only direct, confident, assumptive asking gets you what you want.
Conjuring the Deepest, Darkest Human Fear
Asking with confidence is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. The assumptive ask requires you to put it all out there and take an emotional risk, with no guarantees. When you ask with confidence, you make yourself instantly vulnerable, with no place to take cover.Vulnerability, according to Dr. Brene Brown, author of the Power of Vulnerability, is created in the presence of uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. This vulnerability conjures up the deepest and darkest of human fears: Rejection.
Leading up to your ask, everything in your body and mind are screaming at you to stop as the anticipation of being rejected generates this deep sense of vulnerability. Rejection is a painful demotivator and the genesis of deep-rooted fear.
The fear and avoidance of the emotional pain caused by rejection is why most people seek the easy way out. It's the top reason why sales professionals fail to reach their true potential and income. The fear of rejection is the most treacherous disruptive emotion for salespeople.
There Is No Silver-Bullet Objection Slayer
For as long as salespeople have been asking buyers to make commitments, buyers have been throwing out objections; and, as long as buyers have been saying no, salespeople have yearned for the secrets to getting past no.
Salespeople are obsessed with shortcuts and silver bullets that will miraculously deliver yeses without the risk of rejection. This is exactly why so many of the questions I get about dealing with objections begin with: “What's the trick for…,” or “Can you tell me the secret to…,” or “What words can I say that will get them to say yes?”
Salespeople seek techniques for avoiding no in the same vein that golfers pursue the perfect putter. And there is an endless line of pseudo-experts, gurus, and artificial-intelligence witch doctors who pander to the deep insecurities of vulnerable salespeople with false and dangerous claims that they have the secret to the ever-present mystery of how to eliminate rejection.
Let's get this straight from the get-go: These charlatans, most of whom couldn't sell their way out of a paper bag, are just dead wrong.
There is no perfect putter that will take 20 strokes off your game overnight.
There is no easy button that will close the deal every time.
There is no magic fairy dust that will take the sting out of rejection.
There are no silver-bullet words that will slay objections and stun prospects into submission.
There are no perfect scripts that will turn
no
into
yes
, every time.
Artificial intelligence and software programs will not close the deal for you.
There are no unicorns.
Here are two brutal, and undeniable, truths (and we already know how people feel about the truth):
The
only
way to eliminate rejection is to
never ask for anything again. Ever!
To be
successful
in sales, you must ditch your wishbone and grow a backbone.
Everything in sales begins with and depends on the discipline to ask.
Author's Note
Throughout the book I use the terms “stakeholder,” “prospect,” “decision maker,” and “buyer” interchangeably to describe the various people you meet during the sales process. These are the people who give you sales objections. I did this for several reasons. First, it makes the writing easier to consume—it becomes boring and repetitive to use the same descriptors time and again. Second, salespeople and sales organizations don't all use the same terms. Finally, I want to make the point that objections don't always come from the direct decision maker.
2How to Ask
Asking is the beginning of receiving.
—Jim Rhon
Starting with prospecting, while advancing your deals through the sales process, and continuing all the way through the close, you must constantly be asking for what you want. To reduce resistance and get what you want, you must ask confidently, concisely, and assertively, with no hesitation.
There are three keys to asking (Figure 2.1):
Ask with confidence and assume you will get what you want.
Shut up!
Be prepared to deal with objections.
Figure 2.1 The three keys to asking.
Emotional Contagion: People Respond in Kind
We've tracked thousands of sales interactions across a diverse set of industries. When salespeople demonstrate confidence and ask assertively for what they want—appointments, next steps, and buying commitments—prospects say yes 50 to 70 percent of the time. Conversely, nonassertive, insecure, I-don't-want-to-seem-too-pushy requests have a 10 to 30 percent success rate.
Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling, says that “the assumptive position is the strongest selling strategy in the world.” When you pair an assertive request with excellence throughout the sales process, the probability of getting a yes goes up even higher.
You must directly, quickly, and concisely get to the point. Asking directly for what you want makes it easier for your prospect to say yes. When you are confident with your ask and assume you will get what you want, stakeholders respond in kind and give it to you.
When you sound and look afraid, when you give off an insecure vibe, you transfer that fear to your prospect and create resistance where it didn't previously exist. In a weird paradox, a more passive approach, out of concern that being too “pushy” will turn your stakeholders off, will cause them to become even more resistant to your request and generate objections.
One of the truths about human behavior is that people tend to respond in kind. “People are extremely good at picking up on other people's emotions—both negative and positive—without consciously trying,” writes Shirley Wang in her article “Contagious Behavior.”1
Emotional contagion is primarily an automatic subconscious response that causes humans to mirror or mimic the behaviors and emotions of those around them. It makes it very easy for humans to feel what other humans are feeling and transfer emotions to other people. Knowing how to leverage emotional contagion is a powerful skill for influencing human behavior.
When you are relaxed, confident, and assumptive, you transfer those emotions to your stakeholders, reducing resistance and objections. In turn you get more wins, and with more wins your confidence grows.
The Assumptive Ask
Assuming, when you ask, that you will get what you want is a mindset of positive expectation. This mindset manifests itself in your outward body language, voice inflection, tone, and the words you choose. The foundation of the assumptive ask is your belief system and self-talk. When you tell yourself you are going to win and keep telling yourself so, it bolsters your confidence and expectation for success.
Ultra-high sales performers believe they are going to win and are supposed to win. They exude confidence. This confidence transfers to stakeholders, compelling them to comply with requests.
I've spent most of my life around horses. Horses have an innate ability to sense hesitation and fear. They test new riders and take advantage of those riders the moment they sense that the person is afraid or lacks confidence. Horses have a 10-to-1 weight and size advantage over the average person. If the horse doesn't believe that you are in charge, it can and will dump you.
Stakeholders are no different. Your emotions influence their emotions. If they sense fear, weakness, defensiveness, or lack of confidence, they will shut you down or bulldoze right over you. For this reason, when horses or people challenge you, no matter the emotions you are feeling, you must respond with a noncomplementary behavior—a behavior that counters and disrupts their aggression.
When asking for what you want, confidence and enthusiasm are the two most persuasive nonverbal messages. When you lack confidence in yourself, stakeholders tend to lack confidence in you.
You must develop and practice techniques for building and demonstrating relaxed confidence and purposeful enthusiasm even when you feel the opposite. Even if you must fake it because you are shaking in your boots, you must appear relaxed, poised, and confident.
This begins with managing your nonverbal communication to control what the stakeholder sees and hears consciously, and perceives subconsciously (see Table 2.1), including:
Voice tone, inflection, pitch, and speed.
Body language and facial expressions.
The way you dress and your outward appearance. A picture is worth a thousand words, and being well-dressed sends a powerful message—internally and externally. Which is why even inside salespeople should dress for confidence.
Table 2.1 Nonverbal Communication
Demonstrates Lack of Confidence, Insecurity, and Fear
Demonstrates a Relaxed, Confident Demeanor
Speaking with a high-pitched voice.
Speaking with normal inflection and a deeper pitch.
Speaking fast. (When you speak too fast, you sound untrustworthy.)
Speaking at a relaxed pace with appropriate pauses.
Tense or defensive tone of voice.
Friendly tone—a smile in your voice and on your face.
Speaking too loudly or too softly.
Appropriate voice modulation with appropriate emotional emphasis on the right words and phrases.
Frail or nervous tone of voice with too many filler words, “ums,” “uhs,” and awkward pauses.
Direct, intentional, properly paced tone and speech that gets right to the point.
Lack of eye contact—looking away. (Nothing says “I can't be trusted” and “I'm not confident” like poor eye contact.)
Direct, appropriate eye contact.
Hands in your pockets.
Hands by your side or out in front of you as you speak. (This may feel uncomfortable but makes you look powerful and confident.)
Wild gesticulations or hand motions.
Using hand gestures in a calm and controlled manner.
Touching your face, hair, or putting your fingers in your mouth—a clear sign that you are nervous or insecure.
Your hands in a power position—by your side or out in front of you in a controlled, nonthreatening manner.
Hunched over, head down, arms crossed.
Straight posture, chin up, shoulders straight and back. (This posture will also make you feel more confident.)
Shifting back and forth on your feet or rocking your body.
Standing still in a natural power pose.
Stiff posture, tense body.
Relaxed, natural posture.
Jaw clenched, tense look on face.
Relaxed smile. (The smile is a universal non verbal sign that relays, “I'm friendly and can be trusted.”)
Weak, limp, sweaty-palm handshake.
Firm, confident handshake delivered while making direct eye contact.
People are also subconsciously assessing the meaning of your words, voice tone, and body language. Confident messages increase the probability that you will get a yes. Whether on the phone, in person, or via e-mail or social media, the words you use and how you structure those words send the message loud and clear that you assume you will get a yes or assume you'll get a no (refer to Table 2.2).
Table 2.2 Message Content
Nonassumptive, Passive, and Weak
Assumptive and Confident
“I'm just checking in.”
“The reason I'm calling is…”
“I was wondering (hoping) if…?”
“Tell me who—how—when—where—what…”
“I just wanted to reach out to see…”
“The purpose for my call is to…”
“I have the whole day open.”
“I'm super busy bringing on new clients, but I do have a slot available at 11:00 a.m.”
“How does that sound?”
“Why don't we go ahead and get the first delivery set for next Monday?”
“What's the best time for you?”
“I'll be visiting a client not far from your office on Monday. I can pick you up for lunch.”
“I kinda, sorta, was wondering if maybe you have time to answer a few questions, if that would be okay?”
“A lot of my customers are telling me that they're having problems with XYZ. What do you feel is your biggest challenge?”
“Would this be a good time for you?”
“How about we meet again next Thursday at 2:00 p.m.?”
“I wanted to find out…”
“Who else do we need to include?”
“How do you feel about this so far?”
“Based on everything you've told me about your current situation, I think it makes sense for us to go ahead and get a demo set up for next Wednesday. Who on your team should we invite?”
“What do you think?”
“I'm just going to need your signature on the agreement to get the implementation process started.”
“How many seats were you thinking of?”
“I recommend getting started with our 20-seat bundle. I'll just need the e-mail addresses of each person on your team to get it set up.”
Getting past the emotions that disrupt confidence is among the most formidable challenges for sales professionals. It's common to feel intimidated when meeting with top executives, have diminished confidence after experiencing a loss or failure, or become desperate at the end of the quarter when you are in danger of missing your forecast.
