Sales trends

Trending this Week: The Pursuit of Confidence

Your confidence has been shaken. You didn’t meet your quota. You were passed over for a big promotion. A promising prospect blew you off. You feel like you must be doing something wrong. Now go ahead and take a bit of time to feed your self-doubts.

Wait? What?

Too often, discussions about boosting or regaining confidence has sales pros focusing only on self-affirmations—you’re smart, you’re talented, you’re driven by a desire to help. While all of these things may be true, by ignoring self-doubt you do a disservice to yourself and your buyers.

Self-doubt is your brain’s way of telling you that you can do better. It can help you realize that something else stands in your way of success, allowing you to tackle a very specific obstacle head on.   

How can you create a better plan for meeting quota? How can you position yourself for a bigger role? How can you alter your approach to deliver more value with each interaction? Make your insecurities the impetus for action, the trigger that motivates you to learn more and raise your bar.

Of course, each measure of self-doubt should be counterbalanced by a heaping spoonful of self love. So yes, redefine your failure as learning opportunities, own your expertise, and know your strengths. But, also appreciate self-doubt as a valuable tool in professional growth.

The first post in this week’s roundup of trending sales content promises up your confidence. You’ll also discover a thought-provoking entry into the quota debate and will learn about the potential downfalls of focusing too narrowly.

Here’s What Sales Professionals Were Reading and Sharing This Week:

Confidence Closes More Deals

In this quick read, Alice Heiman highlights key takeaways from a recent #CallCamp webinar which covers how sales pros can cut the fluff to close more deals. Heiman’s list includes pointers such as how to control the conversation while only talking 30 - 40% of the time. Click through for tips to improve your sales calls or to watch the webinar in which real phone calls are assessed by the panel of experts.

How This 4-Step Sales Process Has Earned Me $5 Million in the Last 18 Months

The barometer for a good sales call? For Scott Oldford it’s when both you and your prospect leave the meeting feeling inspired and motivated to take the next step. In this post, Oldford breaks down a four-step process, starting with illuminating your customer’s pain and ending with creating a commitment. Click through to learn how simple questions can get your prospect to do most of the work for you.

How the Right Focus Determines Your Sales Success

If you were handed a piece of paper with a dot on it, what would you see? In this post, Greg Giersch highlights how being too focused might cause you to miss opportunities to connect with decision influencers, skip essential questions, or end up with unwanted surprises when you try to close.

Does Quota Matter?

In this post, Dave Brock weighs in on the quota vs. no quota debate. Brock notes that all employees should be held accountable to some standard of performance. Because sales pros are in the business of making sales, it makes sense for them to be evaluated based on orders, revenue, and growth. The issue is that too often quota and even pipeline goals do not account for individual variations such as average deal size or close rate. So does quota matter? Check out the post for Brock’s thoughts about why quotas matter, just not in the way you might think.

Sports and Sales. How do they relate?

Sales is like sports; to be a superstar, very few can just show up and count on success. In this post, Rachel Bacon talks soccer and how putting in the work, conditioning yourself for success, and refining your skills can perfect your sales game.

The Hustler’s Playbook: Paying the Price When It Is Unknown

What are you willing to pay for your success? Anthony Iannarino believes the answer to this question is somewhat irrelevant. What you want to pay and what you end up paying are two very different things. Check out the post to see why success favors those with intrinsic motivation.


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