The fear of selling is considered a very real symptom, this especially if it’s your chosen profession to be a salesperson, or for businesses who knows that they need to generate sales, but are unsure or unwilling to do so.
These thoughts of apprehension involves and strikes everyone, from the very first time novice salesman, to the well seasoned sales professional. All can be held back from achieving success on occasion, this based on knowing that they need to sell on a daily basis to make a living.
There are a few clinically recognized fears when it comes to this anxiety symptom, which are: poor belief in oneself, poor self image, fear of failure, rejection, criticism, poor presentation skills, and a lack of product knowledge.
Any of these fears can cause a breakdown or that sudden queasy feeling in the stomach, during or prior to a sales presentation, preventing you from closing the prospect.
The Fear Of Failure
Undoubtedly, one of the biggest fears of life let alone sales, is failure. Most who are in sales or business has an adopted fear of failure. There’s nothing more demoralizing than having a continual lack of success.
This fear of failure begins in our school years, so much so that most won’t dare to try the same action twice. The lesson that’s learned was that if that action was a failure, even just once, then it probably won’t work again, so we never try again.
So what we need to do is overcome this fear which begins with a dedicated focused positive attitude that things will get better. We need to develop an inner voice which will push us onwards to that next prospect.
Failure needs to be viewed as a learning process, as there’s always something that can be learned from every failure. Then improve on it by testing, so that if it happens again, it can lead you closer to success. It’s thought that success is a result of 95% percent failure.
The Fear Of A Poor Self Image
We’re all not born with boundless amounts of self-confidence. When you begin out in sales, there are times of nagging doubt when you think you’re in over your head.
This self doubt then begins chipping away at your confidence and soon you begin developing a poor self image, which reflects in your sales presentation. To come across as successful as possible, what you need is to is just feel better about yourself.
Steps To Improving Your Self Image
Write down all of the qualities which you think a successful salesperson should possess, list a few key qualities.
• Find a quiet spot, relax your body and mind while regulating your breathing
• Once relaxed, recite the self image qualities which you’ve identified
• Visualize yourself possessing these qualities, see how you look and feel when you have these qualities
• Envision how successful you are, how you look, the car you drive, where you live, etc.
Repeat back to yourself that you’re assuming each and everyone of these qualities, becoming a better salesman and person on a daily basis. Repeat this first thing in the morning, and then before you go to bed, and you’ll begin to find your self image and confidence increasing.
Nothing Worse Than The Fear Of Rejection
What’s closely linked to the fear of failure is rejection. Just hearing the response “No,” can easily blunt any type of motivation. The best way of dealing with rejection is to just accept it will happen, that it’s just a numbers game.
Try reframing any type of rejection by telling yourself that it’s the other person who loses out, and not you. Walk away with a smile and always remind yourself that you’re one step closer to someone saying “Yes”.
The Lack Of Product Knowledge
Which is also a fear since a lack of knowledge about your product or service results in making a poor presentation. There’s just one simple solution to this, know your product inside out.
Absorb yourself in the product by understanding all of its features and benefits, so that you can talk confidently about every area of what your offering. Banishing this fear is one of the easier ones to do.
The Fear Of Criticism
No one enjoys criticism, especially if you’ve put forward your best effort. Unless you’re extremely thick skinned, criticism will knock you on your backside. But once you improve your self-image, criticism becomes easier.
Decide to view criticism as feedback rather than a direct attack on you. There’s always certain elements of truth in any type of criticism, and it becomes important that you take these opportunities to learn and change.
Fear Of Presentation
You may know the features and benefits of what you’re selling down pat, but you happen to suffer from stage fright. The fear of presentation can be as simple as a lack of structure around your sales pitch.
So write a basic outline on how you’re wanting the sales presentation to go. Prepare a script featuring the key parts of the presentation, and then rehearse it over and over again.
The most effective method is role playing the sales presentation. This provides the opportunity for you to practice, make mistakes in a risk-free environment.
Go join the local chapter of Toastmasters, and then refine your speaking in public. Learn from books, audio, and seminars on effective speaking methods. These actions will improve your confidence for a more polished and professional sales presentation.
Selling doesn’t need to be a scary experience. What you need is the right attitude, a strong self belief in yourself and complete knowledge of your product. Once refined, it becomes a numbers game.
Combine this with plenty practice, then you’ll find these fears of selling beginning to dissipate. Just dissect each of them, and then put a plan in place to eliminate them.