Can confidence be taught to non-sales professionals?

One of hot topics here at LiveseySolar surrounds non-salespeople and the fact that they are being asked to sell more and more in the professional services world. We’re continuing our new series of video Questions and Answers recorded during the recent ESCRS trade show that took place at the Excel Centre in London. Today’s video asks whether an essential ingredient in selling – confidence – can be taught or not. What do you think?

Question

Can confidence be taught and do you think confidence is an issue for today’s professional?

Answer

Absolutely confidence can be taught and we know this because there are plenty of examples to demonstrate people who are lacking in confidence who develop confidence over time.

This suggests that these are things that can be learned. It comes often from preparation. Preparation can help with confidence a lot. It helps through making mistakes and realising that mistakes don’t translate into disasters. They are recoverable. It also helps when people see other people who are in a similar position to themselves doing sales things, and progressing and developing in them.So absolutely!

Having a roadmap genders confidence.

Any professional typically will have a process they follow that has been evaluated and taught to them by their mentors and supported by their peers. They follow this (roadmap) and it enables them to have confidence in what they do.

That confidence didn’t exist innately from the time they were born. They learned that process and that process allowed them to have confidence in themselves to do what they needed to do. And it’s the exactly same thing with selling. It’s simply a matter of learning a process and having a roadmap, so you never really have to question: “What do I do next?” You know what to do next because you have a roadmap.

Just like everything else you do professionally you need a plan. And that’s a big part in what develops and instils the confidence in one to be able to do this the right way.