Five Secrets to Confident Communication in Sales

Over the course of the past several years of training different profiles of people, I sense an angst in many of them when I ask them to step forward and speak in front of the group or when asked to do a role play. I have also overheard many salespersons unwittingly convey a lack of confidence in their communications with customers.   Having come from a place where confident communication has been an acquired art which has been refined in the school of tough situations, I fully empathise with the situation that many find themselves in. Hence I pen these thoughts on the secrets to becoming confident communicators.

1. Create a mental map of success: Visualise yourself in the situation in the future, communicating confidently.  Become aware of the minute expressions of your face, your gestures and your relaxed state. Adjust the brightness and rearrange the facial expressions and gestures till you are completely satisfied. Listen to the sound of your voice, and tune it if required, till you hear the sound of confidence in your voice. Freeze the picture. Magnify it as if it were under a lens. It works wonders every time.

2. Practice, practice, practice: Practice creates confidence. Rehearse commonly used talk lines of a sales process. Particularly practice talking about how the customer stands to benefit from your product.  There is a reason for having role plays – practising makes perfect, even if it is a pretend situation. The tougher the situations practiced, the better prepared we are. Grab every opportunity to practice.

3. Listen: there is great strength in the silence of listening. It is indeed surprising that having spent nine months in the womb just listening to subtle sounds; we lose the propensity to listen as we mature. Much is learnt from listening. Oftentimes we are lulled into thinking that the world acknowledges and eulogises only the talkers. The rhythmic sound of the falling drops of water will be heard only in the silence. Similarly, the nuances of the thought being communicated both verbal and non-verbal, may be understood only in the silence of listening.  And many a sale is lost by the art of non- listening.

4. Let your voice reflect your confidence. Become aware of the tonality, the pitch, the modulation of the voice and let your confidence become reflected through your voice. Become aware of whether your voice projection reflects assertiveness. A person can reel off technical jargons but if he does that in a squeaky or high pitched voice, the customer just might back off.  Let the origin of your voice be from your body, not your head. Relax, breathe deeply and the muscles will relax, allowing the voice to flow out like rich molten chocolate. 

5. Be watchful and have flexibility. Become aware of the effect of your communication. Be poised to change the way you communicate if you feel the desired response is not obtained. Unlike what is usually thought, the person with the most flexibility in an interaction has the controls of the communication.     

Refer to my blogs "Communication Patterns" and "Becoming better listeners" for further readings

Labelling relationships

Do we relate to people by the labels or titles we assign them? I’m sure many of us do. Wife, mother, sister, brother, father, friend, partner, boss, co-worker, customer…the list is endless. It lends order, structure and definition in a chaotic world, in terms of how we relate, taking into consideration the dos and don’ts of society and also our own preference patterns.

Let’s take a moment to ponder. What is the basis of the relationships we have? Do we limit our experience of the relationship to the nomenclature of the label? We look at the relationship from one angle – from the angle of the label we have assigned. Do we at any point pause to consider that the person we are relating to is an individual whose entity goes much beyond the label assigned? An individual who may be a friend to one, a parent to another, a spouse to another, customer, boss & co-worker to another. He or she is defined not by any one relationship, but an amalgamation of all relationships.  

I wonder what would happen if we were to expand our horizons to beyond the labels we perceive in relations. Would the borders that define the relation then be a linear line or one which blurs into the horizon? The point here is that the borders of the relationship are ones which we draw. Would it limit the relationship or expand it? What will then change – will the limits of the relationship change? I guess they might become dynamic, as we still have the choice to acknowledge and define the boundaries. Would our perception of the person and relationship as a whole change? I should hope so. As there would then be an awareness of whole new dimensions to the individual we are relating to, not just the dimension that we relate to. Now to the bottom line. How does that help us? This increased awareness of the different facets of the individual would then give us flexibility in our own interactions, enriching the relationship by giving cognizance to the dynamics of the multiple factors at play. It would expand our awareness of the universe at large and give a sense of being a part of a whole. In the process it enables us go beyond the labels we define ourselves by, redefine the resources and identity we have.     

Saying 'No' to the customer

A week ago I was fortunate to attend a course with an Irish lady who, upon knowing the nature of my work, commented, “I hope you train the salesperson in India on how to say no”. It is a profound statement indeed. And I constantly wonder – how is it that the salesperson finds it so difficult to say no to the customer? Even if he/she does have the ability to say no, it inevitably (with exceptions of course) also sounds quite rude.

So I thought of dedicating this blog to the debate of whether the ability to say no to a customer is an essential skill for the salesperson. Some would argue that it is good to have the skill, but not an essential one to have. And that it certainly is not necessary to train the front line salesperson in this skill as an essential do-or-die sales skill. In comparison to the more essential selling skills of understanding, probing and closing the sale, it pales in significance.

I would beg to differ a wee bit on the above. While there is no dispute that understanding the customer and closing the sale are skills without which no salesperson may be called a successful one, I feel that developing the ability to say no to the customer is also fast emerging as a lifesaving skill for the salesperson. Only because future relationships with the customer or potential customer may hinge on this ability of the salesperson. In my experience of training salespersons, particularly from the retail industry, I find that in most cases, the normal salesperson gets flummoxed when faced with a situation when he/she has to say no to the customer. In extreme cases it’s almost like a fear psychosis. It could be in situations as varied when to say no for a price reduction to a service related issue. It is almost as if the DNA of the salesperson in India is lacking this essential component.

Let me explain why I consider this an essential trait to develop, especially among front end salespersons. Nothing irritates a customer more than a ubiquitous answer that evades the question. It is as false as a misleading answer that breaches the delicate trust the customer places on the salesperson. I say this is a fast emerging lifesaving skill because the budding relationship between customer and the salesperson can be shattered by an inappropriately uttered ‘No’.

The balance of power and equation between seller-customer lies in the ability of the seller to say no when the situation demands it, and say it with conviction (firmness) and humility (politeness), the two sides of the coin bearing the word ‘No’. What many fail to understand is that most customers will appreciate an honest and clear cut answer, and will remain a valued customer for life. What is essential to remember here is that the no is said appropriately, with an ingrained politeness and an explanation on why a no is being said. It should also be a no that is crystal clear - not a confusing maybe. Further additional value is felt by the customer if that explanation is followed by a suggestion of alternatives for the customer, if available, so that the customer feels good on sensing a window of options in the brick wall he/she has just encountered. 


For further readings on selling, go to:

Five secrets to confident communication in sales

Service in 'Customer Focus' while selling

Selling with a difference

Rapport in selling