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